Troubleshooting the Compost Process
|
SYMPTOM |
PROBLEM |
SOLUTION |
|
Compost has a bad odor |
Not enough air |
Turn the pile, add more PVC pipes. |
|
Compost has a bad odor and is soggy |
Not enough air and too wet |
Mix in dry ingredients like straw or shavings, add PVC pipes and cover with a tarp. |
|
Inside of the pile is dry |
Not enough water |
Add water when turning the pile. Should be as damp as a wrung out sponge. |
|
Compost is damp & warm in the middle, but nowhere else |
Pile is too small |
Collect more raw material and mix it into the old ingredients. Piles smaller than 3' square have trouble holding heat. |
|
Pile is damp and smells fine, but is not heating up |
Too many shavings, wood chips or bedding (carbon source) and not enough manure (nitrogen source) |
Mix in a nitrogen source – straight manure, fresh grass clippings, blood meal or ammonium sulfate. |
Check out these resources for additional help on composting and ideas for managing horse manure!
· The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), a department of the United States Department of Agriculture, works with farmers and ranchers on issues relating to the wise use of our natural resources. This includes manure management and composting as well as other practices such as pasture management, drainage issues and stream restoration projects. You can find information on the Web under Natural Resource Conservation Service, or go to http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/. For your local area NRCS service office go to http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app?agency=nrcs.
· Conservation districts (CDs), the state version of the NRCS, also work with farmers, ranchers and livestock owners, often on smaller, non-commercial places. CD technicians can provide free technical assistance and advise on composting and building manure storage systems, as well a pasture management, mud control, and wildlife enhancement. There is a conservation district located in nearly every county of the United States just waiting to help you with technical assistance and education. For a listing of all the CDs with websites go to http://www.nacdnet.org/resources/cdsonweb.html
· Cooperative Extension Service is a nationwide educational network associated with each state’s land-grant university. Each state has a network of local or regional offices staffed by experts who provide practical, research-based information to agricultural producers, small business owners, youth, and others in rural areas. Contact your local Cooperative Extension office to get more information on composting and manure management for horses. They can be located at http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/
· Your county solid waste department may also be able to help you with more information on composting or other ideas for manure management. Many counties (or city solid waste departments) offer Master Composter classes, which although geared toward the backyard gardening type of composter, can still provide you with valuable information and understanding on the compost process. There may be other county programs as well that can assist you, as a livestock owner, with education.
· Many books are available on composting, including On-Farm Composting Handbook, a good source on agricultural composting, distributed by Northeast Regional Agricultural Engineering Service, http://www.css.cornell.edu/compost/Composting_Homepage.html. Healthy Horses, Clean Water: A Guide to Environmentally Friendly Horsekeeping, published by Horses for Clean Water, www.horsesforcleanwater.com is available in some library systems. Horsekeeping on a Small Acreage, an excellent book by Cherry Hill on horse facility design and management, http://www.horsekeeping.com/, has a section on composting.
